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Summer 2024 Lake Elmo Public Safety Recreational Fires and Open Burning Permits Recreational fires continue to be a great way to gather and enjoy the summer weather in Lake Elmo. Hosting a recreational fire on your property comes with a certain level of responsibility. Be a good neighbor and consider the wind speed and direction of smoke before starting the fire. Consider knocking on your neighbor’s door to let them know ahead of time that you will be burning. This drastically reduces the number of nuisance calls made to 911 regarding smoke. Keep the size of the fire to a limited 3x3x3. Three feet wide, three feet tall, and nothing larger than three inches in diameter is to be burned. Remember, recreational fires do not include burning leaves or yard waste! If the fire gets out of hand don’t wait or hesitate, call 911 immediately. Open burning permits are required for large scale burning. Permits are issued only after an inspection is performed on site to ensure safe practices are being followed. City Ordinance only permits the burning of dead/diseased vegetation, bee hives, ground thawing, and prairie restoration. A variance can be issued for special burning, such as storm debris. Paid-On-Call Firefighter Recruitment The Lake Elmo Fire Department has served the City of Lake Elmo providing Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Medical services since 1957 and continues to provide exceptional service to 14,000 + residents and visitors alike. Since 1957, the department has changed in many ways, but one factor remains constant and that is the need for Paid-On-Call (POC) Firefighters to serve our community. Staffing Our fire department is staffed with a combination of Full Time and POC Firefighters, both of which are trained to the same standard and provide a consistent level of service to our community. Our full-time staff work around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. POC Firefighters play an important role in emergency services by supporting the career staff on duty crew and at large scale incidents. Our POC firefighters are required to fulfill a minimum number of shift hours as part of our Duty Crew program. These are work shifts where we staff the station with a POC firefighter to work alongside our career staff as a crew of three. A shift bid occurs prior to each quarter and you are able to select from a number of available shifts. The Duty Crew program allows our staff to structure their time with the fire department. Emergency Response POC Firefighters carry a pager and utilize emergency applications on their phones to be alerted to the need to respond to an emergency. In most cases, when a duty crew is available, the incident can be handled without the need to call back all of our off duty and POC staff. However, there are incidents that require the need for a large staff response or multiple incidents which the POC Firefighters are needed to respond. In 2024, the department is predicted to respond to approximately 1,200 calls for service. Training Initially, all new Firefighters (Probationary) are required to attend a fire academy to gain all the basic skills related to firefighting and emergency medical services. The academy is typically two nights a week and some Saturdays. The initial required training takes approximately 9 months. All costs associated with the training and equipment needed are covered by the fire department and you will be paid hourly for your time at the academy. Those with current fire and EMS certifications may be allowed to bypass the academy and are encouraged to apply. As a whole, the department meets most Monday nights for training and meetings. Department Requirements After successfully completing the probationary period, a firefighter is required to maintain a certain level of commitment to the department. It should be made clear, that a POC Firefighter must show the desire to be part of the organization. A personal drive to want to be involved is necessary for a member to succeed in our department. Formally, the requirements for employment and to be considered in good standing are: maintain an average of 25% of the incidents dispatched as a callback, maintain a commitment to the attendance of weekly drills and meetings, attend extra events such as National Night Out, and participate in the Duty Crew program meeting a minimum of shift hours each quarter.